Pica8 Introduces Open SDN Reference Architecture for Cloud Developers

Pica8 Inc., the leader in open networking for software defined networks
(SDN), today announced the industry's first open SDN reference
architecture. Designed specifically as a network development platform
for cloud providers, this architecture includes a Pica8's physical open
switch, integrated with a hypervisor virtual switch and an SDN
controller leveraging the OpenFlow 1.2 standard to communicate between
the three components.

"The rapidly emerging SDN market is targeting both Enterprise and
Cloud/Network service providers; however, today they have different
needs. While most enterprise organizations are looking for complete SDN
solutions, service providers want an open and flexible network platform
to build its own solutions," said Bob Laliberte, Senior Analyst,
Enterprise Strategy Group (News - Alert). "Pica8 understands this requirement and has
developed an innovative and cost effective open network platform to
better enable those service providers."

Because of its seamless integration with leading and emerging open
network protocols, the new reference architecture is ideally suited for
cloud, portal and service providers where the biggest and most dynamic
data centers reside today. The development solution combines the popular
Open vSwitch (OVS) 1.7.1 virtual switch with OpenFlow 1.2 implemented in
Pica8's PicOSTM operating system. OVS has support from many
companies and is quickly gaining adoption i cloud environments as well
as having integration with OpenStack. Because PicOS supports OpenFlow
1.2, it also integrates with the Ryu 1.4 OpenFlow controller, designed
by NTT (News - Alert) Laboratories specifically for SDN applications that service
providers need.

"The Ryu open source controller helps data centers enjoy the benefits of
SDN by providing a platform for the deployment of a wide range of
network applications including cloud services," says Fujita Tomonori,
RYU chief maintainer, NTT Software Innovation Center. "We are proud to
see Ryu being leveraged for cloud services and excited to see Pica8's
ongoing work to commercialize NTT Laboratories' efforts and bring value
to their customers and partners."

"Cloud service providers are drawn to SDN for its technological,
operational, and business benefits," says Brad Casemore, Research
Director, Data Center Networks at IDC (News - Alert). "In offering integrated SDN
components, Pica8 and other vendors are trying to make it easier for
cloud providers to quickly test, validate, and deploy SDN for
cloud-service delivery."

The new reference architecture announced today is the first such
demonstrable product integrated by Pica8. In the coming weeks, Pica8
will continue to test configurations with customers and partners. The
testing results will contribute to reference designs that can help the
development of cloud-specific SDN applications.

Since 2009, Pica8 has been fulfilling the promise of true software
defined networking (SDN) by providing the world's first open,
hardware-independent switching system. Pica8 open switches transform the
data center by decoupling hardware from software. This new approach
provides greater flexibility and adaptability, all while driving down
implementation- and management-related costs of cloud and virtualized
applications. Pica8 is a global company headquartered in Palo Alto (News - Alert),
California. For more information, visit www.pica8.com.